Byron apologetic for triggering championship race-changing caution

William Byron was the second driver to enter the Phoenix Raceway media room for the post-race obligations, winding up next to fellow Cup Series title contender Denny Hamlin.

Byron walked onto the podium, to Hamlin’s right, and squeezed Hamlin’s shoulder before sitting down. As he did, Byron acknowledged Hamlin's losing the championship came from a situation that was put in motion by Byron bringing out the final caution with four laps to go in Sunday’s race.

“You deserved it,” Byron told Hamlin.

Byron had also apologized to Hamlin during his television interview on pit road.

“It just doesn’t seem right, you know?” Byron said. “He had beaten us, and we’re running second, and it’s four laps to go, and you go into the wall and cause a caution. It sucks. I don’t want to be that guy, even if I’m in the Championship 4. It doesn’t really matter. You don’t want to change the outcome. So, it sucks.”

Byron (24) looked like the toughest title challenger for Hamlin (11) much of the day, before denying him in a different fashion. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Hamlin dominated the title race, but Byron appeared to be his closest competition. The two drivers started first and second, swept the stages, and combined to lead 260 of 319 laps.

But it was Byron’s blown right-front tire and contact with the Turn 4 wall that changed the outcome of the race. The incident occurred as Hamlin had a 3.3-second lead on Ryan Blaney, who would go on to win the race. Byron had slipped to third position and off the pace before hitting the wall.

“I felt something a little funny on that lap,” Byron said. “I was trying to figure out if it was a tire, and I guess we were coming to three laps to go. So, I was trying to figure out left rear or right rear, and about the time I hit the brakes into (Turn) 3, it just laid down on the right side of the car and went straight.

“I was hoping it would be a left rear so I could get back (to pit road).”

Byron ultimately finished 33rd in the race and fourth in the championship standings. It was his third straight opportunity to compete for the Cup Series championship.

The winner of the regular-season championship and the Daytona 500 to start the season, Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team led the series in stage wins (11), stage points (326), and laps led (1,330).

“I felt like we were deserving to run where we were,” Byron said.